Banking graduate job seekers have been given further encouragement with the news that permanent placements in the UK job market have grown considerably during February.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs states that growth of permanent staff placements grew at their fastest pace last month since July 2007.

Overall demand for staff also continued to increase, extending the current period of growth to five months.

Temporary and contract staff placements also increased, but the rise was the slowest in three months, states the report.

Kevin Green, REC chief executive, said the UK jobs market is continuing to improve, with increased employer confidence resulting in the "best performance we’ve seen in permanent employment for two-and-a-half years".

Yet Bernard Brown, head of business services at KPMG, said the news also came with "one big warning".

"The impact of the inevitable public sector recession on the jobs market has yet to be felt and will be played out over the next six to 12 months," he said.

Meanwhile, the number of banking graduate jobs at Santander is expected to increase for 2010, with new recruits in the UK set to reach 230.

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